Im driving. Who's riding shotgun? Dont push there is plenty of room for all of Steeler Nation .

"They're going to get a player that's extremely smart, understands the game, works extremely hard and they get a natural winner.All my life, I've been a winner. All my life, I've had this attitude where I don't care who you are, where you've been, who your father is, who you play for, I don't care. It's me vs. you, and I'm going to try and come out on top. That goes for everyone."--Alphonso Smith

He's a possibility. But I'd rather take a big ugly on the OL in the 1st.

I'd go for Darius Butler in the 2nd though.

Butler has the athletic ability to consider using on offense or as a returner on special teams, but his value lies on the defensive side of the ball. Athletic enough for man and yet well versed in zone coverage due to Connecticut's reliance on this coverage throughout much of his career, Butler is among the more versatile cornerbacks in the draft. He has the anticipation, explosive burst back to the ball and size to translate into a zone coverage scheme at the NFL level, and really opened eyes at the Senior Bowl with his agility for man coverage and at Combine with his eye-popping overall athleticism.

Butler doesn't have the big name of a Malcolm Jenkins, Vontae Davis or Alphonso Smith, but the four year starter, two year captain may be as sure a prospect as any of them.

It seems just when I post a thread where I state that selecting Alphonso Smith at 32 would be a mistake, someone comes in and starts this thread gyping him up. As I said, I like the guy personally. But no way can anyone defend him with proven on the field performance that he is any better than Cincinnati's Mike Mickens. Yes Smith has a career total of 21 picks. But he also has given up way more TD's as well. His small lower body scares me a bit that he could breakdown eventually. And in our system, he does not translate very well, at least to me.

In a " Pure cover-2 " I think Smith could do well, and venture out to take those chances. But the only time Pittsburgh ever tried a cover-2,,,was in the Super Bowl, and how did that play out ? We lost the lead on that long TD to Fitzgerald. Mickens was a starter from Day one in Cincy. He has 14 picks to Smith's 21 yes. But, in 47 career games to Smith's 51, Mickens has 5 more PBU's than smith..( 45 to 40 )...he has 233 career tackles to Smith's 188. His return yardage in 7 less interceptions is more, WAY MORE than Smith's 21, which to me proves that Mickens does more with most of his picks after the catch than Smith does. And as noted, Mickens is a legit 6 footer. He also is 2 full years younger than Smith. Not that thats a huge deal, but Smith will be a 24 year old rookie.

I'm not sold on a Big Ugly at 32 either cause I doubt there will be a difference maker there that we could not select later on. But for this threads purpose, Alphonso is not an elite DB, and certainly, statistically is NOT a better more proven player than Mike Mickens.

[QUOTE][I'm not sold on a Big Ugly at 32 either cause I doubt there will be a difference maker there that we could not select later on. But for this threads purpose, Alphonso is not an elite DB, and certainly, statistically is NOT a better more proven player than Mike Mickens.][QUOTE]
That I agree with. I dont think there will be a lineman at 32 that will be a upgrade over our starters.

But as for a the Mickens or Smith debate. I feel that both will be good pros. But with Smith there is an added value in the kick/punt return game. With us selecting at 32 we need to get value as well as a player that can play mutiple postions. Also Smith has that "It" factor that big play ball hawk mentality that our defensive backfield hasnt had in a while.

You state that Smith has that " It " factor, a Ball hawk per se. But what about Mickens is any less ? I mean he is every bit the Ball hawk. Only with better coverage skills and tackling skills. This is a undeniable fact. As for Kickoff returns and punt returns, yes Smith has done that at Wake, but he was average at it at best. Plus, it appears that the steelers are going to sign Tennessee's Chirs Carr. Carr is an excellant return man. He was 3rd in the league in kickoff average at nearly 29Yds a return. And he was in double digits as a punt returner averaging more than 10 Yds a return.

Carr is a NFL PROVEN return guy, and decent Dime DB. So whatever possible return skills that Smith may bring is a moot point. Bottom line, Mickens is better suited for our Isolation cover schemes where with our Blitz packages, our corners are constantly in man coverage. And that's where Mickens is great at, and Smith is below average at. Like I said, in a pure cover-2 defense Smith might get the nod over Mickens. But we don't play that. Nor should we ever with our personell.

Until Carr is signed I wouldnt assume. Also they only person I ever heard mention Mickens superior cover skills is you. On the other hand its been reported that our scouts are taking a looooong hard look at my guy. Alphonso "Prime" Smith.

I got no problem with Smith, Butler or Keenan Lewis from Oregon St. The fact that there is a deep class of CB's might mean that we dont need to get one in the 1st round.

As for a big ugly that is a "difference maker". Please tell me if Jake Long, Brandon Albert, Ryan Clady, Joe Thomas, Tony Ugoh or any O lineman has ever been considered a difference maker.

Bottom line is that experienced guys like Parcells know you build a team with a solid base of linemen. That is why he picked Jake Long OT, Philip Merling DT and Kendall Langford DE with his first 3 picks of last years draft. A solid Offensive or Defensive lineman makes much more sense than a CB in round 1, but we will see.

I got no problem with Smith, Butler or Keenan Lewis from Oregon St. The fact that there is a deep class of CB's might mean that we dont need to get one in the 1st round.

As for a big ugly that is a "difference maker". Please tell me if Jake Long, Brandon Albert, Ryan Clady, Joe Thomas, Tony Ugoh or any O lineman has ever been considered a difference maker.

Bottom line is that experienced guys like Parcells know you build a team with a solid base of linemen. That is why he picked Jake Long OT, Philip Merling DT and Kendall Langford DE with his first 3 picks of last years draft. A solid Offensive or Defensive lineman makes much more sense than a CB in round 1, but we will see.

Gonzo, Everyone you mentioned was practically a top-10 selection. I said at number 32 there will likely be no difference maker on the O-line. Which is why I advocate a different positional player.
As for your pimping Billy-Boy Parcells as the " End All-Be All " of superior knowledge, with his first 3 picks last year. Well Duh!, Jake Long was a no-Brainer. But the other 2, merling & Langford, well Merling is a DE Gonzo, NOT a DT. He's never played DT in his entire life. And he was a border-line BUST considering gow much PT he was given being the first pick in round 2. I mean if Parcells is this Genius, how is it that the Purdue GE, Cliff Avril, who BTW I personally advocated the Steelers selecting last year, well he was selected LATE in round 3 by the Lions. Had Crappy teammates around him, and yet was twice the DE that Merling & Langford are " COMBINED "

And if as you say great teams are built around the Linemen, how is it that we have won 2 SB's the past 4 years without selecting a single Linemen in the first 2 rounds the past 10 years ? We have had statistically the leagues WORST O-Line the past 3 years, and yet we won DESPITE that,,,,not because of that.

Gonzo, at 32, even if the AZ OT is there, or the U-Conn OT, or Duje Robinson, or Unger or even Mack...NONE of those guys are more proven O-linemen then say 5 to 6 others I can easily name that can be had late in the 3rd rounds, or beyond. ? The guys you mentioned above were " Elite Level " talents when coming out. All tops among their draft classes. We wouldn't have gotten Jake Long last year even IF we offered every single pick we owned last year to Miami, along with say James Harrison, and Troy Palomala to the Dolphins. Your Boy would have just laughed in Colbert's face.

I mean considering as YOU said Gonzo, How much Billy loves those Linemen :-)